I'm down in Manhattan of lower Westchester often so I'll stop by if possible.

I'm looking to begin investing in buy-and-hold properties in peripheral NYC markets: Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey, Upper Manhattan. 

Oahu, in general, rates right up there with Manhattan and San Francisco as far as real estate goes.

You may find deals from connections there.I am not endorsing, just suggesting to check it out as I have met great folks at the Manhattan Beach events.

The other side of this is that Manhattan just landed a 4.5 billion research facility that will significantly stimulate the economy.

You can theoretically.The sooner you start the better.It is just everything is very expensive in Manhattan (for some reason I assumed you want to invest there) and you will be competing with all-cash buyers.I also invest there, but made my first investments in the 80's and now cannot find anything worthwhile.Maybe look in other boroughs.

That's not even close to possible in Manhattan...An $800,000 apartment will not rent for $16,000 a month. 

I recently rented a small studio union city, nj to cut my commute to my current job in manhattan, which is programming at a trading company.

Currently live in Hamilton Heights area but if I could live in lower Manhattan or Brooklyn that would be ideal.

If that is true it severely limits the pool pf prospective properties to try this on.